Bioscience

BioFlorida launches foundation to foster bioscience education and collaboration

BioFlorida launches foundation to foster bioscience education and collaboration
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/bioflorida-launches-foundation-to-foster-bioscience-education-and-collaboration,1171947.shtml#ixzz0gIGsZJNg

 

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - (Business Wire) BioFlorida, the statewide trade association founded in 1997 to advance Florida’s bioscience industry, has approved a plan to launch The BioFlorida Institute, a not-for-profit foundation focused on education, professional development and industry resources. The Institute, working in partnership with BioFlorida, will create programs to improve science education and support bioscience entrepreneurs and scientists throughout the state.

 

“Establishing this new Institute is a major step forward because it allows us to support the growing bioscience industry through workforce training and fostering the next generation of bioscience leaders to capitalize on our strong foundation within the state,” said Tom McLain, BioFlorida’s Chairman of the Board and CEO of Claro Scientific in St. Petersburg. “The BioFlorida Institute will also create an industry resource center to connect early stage companies with suppliers, partners and service providers in Florida to assure they grow and create jobs here. Both of these initiatives will help to drive near-term and long-term growth in the biotechnology sector of Florida’s economy.”

 

The Institute’s top priorities include supporting entrepreneurs and scientists who want to bring their concept to the marketplace; fostering better math and science education programs in Florida; providing industry-specific workforce training to help create high paying biotechnology jobs within the state; and researching trends and developments in Florida’s bioscience industry to benchmark its progress.

 

“The BioFlorida Institute will provide infrastructure and services to an industry that relies on collaboration. Complementing BioFlorida’s member programs, advocacy and marketing will help grow Florida’s bioscience cluster to reach its full potential,” said Russell Allen, President and CEO of BioFlorida.

 

The BioFlorida Institute is establishing its leadership and organizational structure. Initial fundraising efforts are being sought to immediately build on BioFlorida’s career & education programs for high schools and to create the industry resource center.

 

For more information, visit www.bioflorida.com or contact [email protected]

UA summer science internships now available to H.S. students statewide

 UA summer science internships now available to H.S. students statewide Wednesday, February 17, 2010 High school students from around the state may now apply for the six-week KEYS life sciences summer internship program run by the University of Arizona's BIO5 Institute and Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center in the College of Pharmacy. Previously, the internship program focused solely on students from the Tucson area. The internships offer a unique summer opportunity to motivated high school students who possess a strong interest in pursuing advanced education in bioscience or biomedical science. Those selected participate in independent research in an active laboratory, and learn science communication through weekly workshops with the other interns and KEYS personnel. The summer culminates with a poster session to showcase their research to the academic community and their friends and family. Thanks to a new partnership with the Arizona Department of Education, high school students from outside of Tucson will be provided with housing in UA residence halls. Completed applications must be mailed and postmarked no later than Monday, March 1, 2010. For information and to apply, go to http://keys.pharmacy.arizona.edu/index.php Follow the KEYS internship program on Twitter @keysinternship

Chandler’s Hamilton H.S. science fair shows off students’ work

Working out of Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, Hasan is trying to create an immune response in HIV cells, known as interleukin 2 (IL-2). Her research is funded not only by ASU but by a grant she received from the Chandler Education Foundation and part of a grant her teacher, Clark, received from Salt River Project for the school's honors research class.

Researcher: Bacteria in tap water can be beneficial

Ridding tap water of bacteria with chemicals is a common practice in America, but one Biodesign Institute researcher is finding benefits to putting the bacteria back in.

The use of microbial agents to decontaminate tap water has long been the standard in Europe, but an American bias against bacteria has led to the use of chemicals to treat water instead, said Bruce Rittman, director of the Center for Environmental Biotechnology in the Biodesign Institute.

“We’re trying to manage the microorganisms to do the job we want them to do, and be happy about it,” Rittmann said Monday in a lecture on the Tempe campus.

More than 500 participants will raise funds for TGen research

More than 500 Valley residents are expected to join researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) at Tempe’s Kiwanis Community Park on March 7 for the first unTEAL A CURE 5K.


Represented by the color teal, the run-walk aims to help raise awareness and stomp out ovarian cancer, whose symptoms often are not properly diagnosed until the cancer is in its late stages and more difficult to treat. Among the indicators of ovarian cancer are frequent or urgent urination and a family history of breast or ovarian cancer.

 

Epidemiologists explore dynamics of Mexico’s H1N1 pandemic

Influenza surveillance mechanisms in Mexico were adequate during the fast-spreading H1N1 outbreak in 2009, yet Mexico did not have the infrastructure to quickly identify the emergence of this novel strain, according to an Arizona State University (ASU) epidemiologist.

Carlos Castillo-Chavez, director of ASU's Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, took a close look at factors impacting the influenza dynamics within Mexico during a presentation Feb. 21 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Castillo-Chavez's presentation, "Life in the Fast Lane: H1N1 Pandemic Dynamics in Mexico's Central Influenza Corridor," was part of a session of how mathematics is used for investigating biological hierarchies.

Babies and sleep: Another reason to love naps

Anyone who grew up in a large family likely remembers hearing "Don't wake the baby." While it reinforces the message to older kids to keep it down, research shows that sleep also is an important part of how infants learn more about their new world.

Rebecca Gomez, Richard Bootzin and Lynn Nadel in the psychology department at the University of Arizona in Tucson found that babies who are able to get in a little daytime nap are more likely to exhibit an advanced level of learning known as abstraction.

Nadel, a Regents' Professor at the UA, will describe the group's work (Early Learning in Infants May Depend on Sleep) in a session at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in San Diego on Sunday, Feb. 21, starting at 8:30 a.m., Pacific time.

Scientists unlock mystery in important photosynthesis step

An international team of scientists, including two from Arizona State University, has taken a significant step closer to unlocking the secrets of photosynthesis, and possibly to cleaner fuels.

Plants and algae, as well as cyanobacteria, use photosynthesis to produce oxygen and "fuels," the latter being oxidizable substances like carbohydrates and hydrogen. There are two pigment-protein complexes that orchestrate the primary reactions of light in oxygenic photosynthesis: photosystem I (PSI) and photosystem II (PSII). Understanding how these photosystems work their magic is one of the long-sought goals of biochemistry.

The ASU scientists working with collaborators at the Max Planck Institute at Mülheim a.d. Ruhr in Germany have been investigating the PSI reaction center.

Tucson Sonoran Science Academy teacher wins award

Tucson Sonoran Science Academy teacher wins award

Arizona Daily Star

http://www.azstarnet.com/news/local/education/precollegiate/article_defad0f4-f567-5ddd-849e-219c57a68d30.html

 

A Sonoran Science Academy-Tucson teacher will receive a national honor for his work with math students.

 

Kadir Bahar was named the recipient of the 2009 Edyth May Sliffe Award. He will receive his award at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference in San Diego in April. 

 

The award is given to teachers by the Mathematical Association of America, recognizing contributions to repeated student success in the American Mathematics Contest 8.

 

The contest is open to students in grades six to eight. It's a 25-question, 40-minute multiple-choice exam designed to promote the development and enhancement of problem-solving skills.

 

Bahar is the third middle school math teacher to receive the award in Arizona, and the first since 1997.

UA might expand to Chandler

After a several years of discussions between President Robert Shelton and the City of Chandler, the UA might offer classes in Chandler as soon as this fall.

“We began establishing a relationship with the University of Arizona, really wanting them to be up here and part of the driving force of our science and technology park,” said Chris Mackay, the City of Chandler’s economic development director.

Mackay added that the city has been building that partnership for the past three or four years. 

1 2 … 173 174 175 176 177 … 418 419